U.S. marketers spent 14% more on search engine ads, and 7-8% more on mobile ads in Q4 2011 over Q4 2010.
The search ad spend was “bolstered by aggressive spending by retailers,” observes Efficient Frontier, the Adobe-owned digital marketing company that compiled the data. While search spend grew 14%, retail specifically grew by 18% and 40% in Q4 over Q3. Meanwhile, cost-per-clicks (CPCs) dropped 5% due to a rise in mobile advertising where clicks are less costly.
“Facebook continues to be where marketers are placing new bets by adding advertising spend with a focus on fan acquisition,” observed President and CEO David Karnstedt of Efficient Frontier. The company expects Facebook to account for 5% of online advertising spend by the close of 2012. As marketers improve their ability to acquire and engage Facebook fans, brands will continue to pump incremental spend into Facebook.
Mobile ad spends are significantly boosted by tablets, which accounted for 50% of mobile search spend and 50% of click share.
However powerful Facebook will be, Google remains king of the hill. Google took an 80% spend share in Q4. But, Bing/Yahoo clicks yielded 14% more revenue per click, and offered 9% higher return on investment.
Among other predictions for 2012:
- Mobile search spend will comprise 16-22% of paid clicks by close of 2012. More plentiful mobile devices will mean a more robust user experience, pushing both users and advertisers to the platform.
- Search spend will increase 15-20% in 2012 in the U.S.
- Search CPCs will drop by 4%, driven down by the increased use of mobile advertising.
- Developments in social platforms other than Facebook (including Google+ and LinkedIn) will also drive up the social spend, though Facebook will remain the dominant social ad platform for 2012.
